218 TO LAKE NAIVASHA [ch. ix 



bigger ones dived and began to work their way past 

 us toward deep water. We could trace their course by 

 the twisting of the hly-pads. Motionless the rowers lay 

 on their oars ; the line of moving lily-pads showed that 

 one of the big hippo was about to pass the boat. 

 Suddenly the waters opened close at hand, and a 

 monstrous head appeared. " Shoot," said Cuninghame, 

 and I fired into the back of the head just as it dis- 

 appeared. It sank out of sight without a splash, 

 almost without a ripple ; the lily-pads ceased twisting ; 

 a few bubbles of air rose to the surface. Evidently the 

 hippo lay dead underneath. Poling to the spot, we 

 at once felt the huge body with our oar blades. But, 

 alas ! when the launch came round, and we raised the 

 body, it proved to be that of a big cow. 



So I left Cuninghame to cut off the head for the 

 Museum, and started off by myself in the boat with 

 two rowers, neither of whom spoke a word of English. 

 For an hour we saw only the teeming bird life. Then, 

 in a broad, shallow lagoon, we made out a dozen hippo, 

 two or three very big. Cautiously we approached them, 

 and when seventy yards off I fired at the base of the ear 

 of one of the largest. Down went every head, and utter 

 calm succeeded. I had marked the spot where the one 

 at which I shot had disappeared, and thither we rowed. 

 When we reached the place, I told one of the rowers to 

 thrust a pole down and see if he could touch the dead 

 body. He thrust according, and at once shouted that 

 he had found the hippo ; in another moment his face 

 altered, and he shouted much more loudly that the 

 hippo M^as alive. Sure enough, bump went the hippo 

 against the bottom of the boat, the jar causing us all to 

 sit suddenly down — for we were standing. Another 

 bump showed that we had again been struck, and the 



